Excerpts from the speech of the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Andros Kyprianou in the discussion on the 2017 State Budget
5th December 2016, House of Representatives
International context
It is true that the context in which we are discussing the 2017 budget today is extremely difficult, complex and not positive for our country.
If we look out the window of our small country we will see that the whole neighborhood of the Eastern Mediterranean, across Europe and today’s world in general, is facing a widespread and very complex crisis.
Its consequences are wars and refugees, the economic crisis and sharp growth of inequalities between the billions of ordinary people and the billionaires of the privileged elite.
On the one hand, we have intense social decay, corruption and decadence and on the other recession, austerity and injustice.
All this while the other major crisis, namely the environment, threatens life on our planet. You don’t need to have any far-sighted capacity to realize that this is leading the world into explosive situations.
Who benefits from all this?
Those who benefit are forces not friendly at all to democracy who are fed by demagogy and who breed fascism.
Gramsci described this situation as follows: “The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born; now is the age of monsters.”
Only, unfortunately, in our case the age of monsters is long lasting.
A tremendous effort by all those who love life and peace is required to put an end to this age of monsters. A great effort is demanded for a new world to be born where social justice and solidarity will prevail; where justice and equality will rule.
I will refer to two important international issues.
The first relates to changes in the balance of power.
The Western bloc sees its share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declining. At the same time, the European Union, and more specifically the Eurozone, has not yet got over the crisis.
On the other hand, the emerging powers of China, Russia and the other BRICS countries are gaining ground. There is a gradual, but steady movement of capital, trade and manufacturing from the West to developing countries.
The International Monetary Fund predicted that by 2030 the centre of global industrial production will be located in East Asia. These are upheavals that are triggering destructive developments. Hence the dramatic intensification in the aggressiveness and interventionism of the US and the European Union in the geopolitical, and military arena.
In one area they use “soft power” and elsewhere brute force, trying to defend their hegemony on a global scale. On the one hand bloody and elsewhere bloodless actions, energy and other huge battles, are intensifying in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean.
They are focusing on war-torn Syria and Iraq, Libya and Palestine. In Eastern Europe Ukraine remains an open wound. In Latin America a vicious undermining of governments not to the liking of the US is underway. The whole region is being led to tensions and instability. Tension is also being provoked in the faraway South China Sea as well.
All these developments express explosive contradictions and reflect the West’s strategy for global control.
The most worrying and dangerous development for the peoples however is the unprecedented militarization promoted by NATO both in the Mediterranean and on the borders with Russia.
Growth of ultra-right populism and fascism
I will now turn to the second characteristic phenomenon of our time, namely the growth in a number of countries of ultra-right populism, which is portraying itself as supposedly an anti-systemic force.
In France, the US, Greece, Austria and other countries, ultra-right forces are openly inciting racism, and exploiting the desperation of working people and youth as regards the explosive situation created as a result of the global capitalist economic crisis.
In other words, we have on the one hand the neoliberal policy of the globalization of markets, the barbarism of contemporary capitalism, as it is being imposed by the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and their select governments. This policy reproduces the vicious circle of unemployment, inequality and poverty.
On the other hand, the ultra-right portrays itself as an alternative force, resorting to nationalism, extreme-right “Euroscepticism” and neo-fascism of different shades.
Turkey
In our neighborhood, Turkey is playing a leading role in explosive developments, resulting in new obstacles being formed to the solution of the Cyprus problem.
What is the situation in Turkey?
After the coup d’état of 15th July an unprecedented authoritarianism is prevailing. This is reflected in numbers that reveal the undemocratic pogrom unleashed by the Erdogan government against opposition forces, the Left and the Kurdish movement.
In the aftermath of the failed coup d’état, the Turkish authorities have arrested 10 members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly belonging to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and about 150 journalists (the largest number of arrests worldwide). They have also arrested 2,386 judges and another 40,000 people, of which more than 31,000 remain in detention. 129,000 civil servants have either been relieved of their duties (66,000) or been made redundant (63,000), according to this year’s European Commission’s Progress Report on Turkey’s accession course, without however most of them have been charged so far. According to the European Association of Judges, approximately 3,400 judges have been suspended and 2,900 are still in prison. Dozens of elected local government officials has been expelled or arrested, and the government has appointed commissioners in numerous municipalities.
The very general definition of terrorism allows the arbitrary exercise of repression against judges and opponents of the government, particularly publishers and journalists, human rights activists, politicians, members of minorities and, of course, the Kurds in particular. Among the dozens of organizations that have been banned is the Peace Committee of Turkey.
On a socio-political level, Turkey’s internal situation continues to be extremely polarized between Islamism, secularism, Turkism and Kurdish consciousness. This polarization will continue, given that it is being fueled by Erdogan himself. The polarization is pushing the internal situation to the extreme. At the same time, it creates the conditions for an increasingly deeper alliance between the government Justice and Development AKP and the ultra-right Nationalist Unity Party (MHP). Essentially, it represents a meeting of the ideological currents of Islamism and Turkism, which will mean the formation of a huge socio-political front. This will plunge society more and more in a conservative direction, to chauvinism, authoritarianism of the state (through the adoption of a centralized presidential system), to the brutal repression against Kurds and, finally, to outbreaks of irredentism and aggression as far as foreign policy is concerned.
This trend is transferred to the foreign policy being pursued by Turkey on the issues of Syria and Iraq, which are presented as “issues affecting the survival and very existence of the Turkish state.” The intense military engagement (portrayed as “preventive military action” against “terrorist organizations”) is directly related to Turkey’s demand that it must have a say in determining the future of Syria and Iraq, or, in other words, to have as its firm objective the creation of permanent zones of influence of the Turkish state beyond its own borders. This strategy is “dressed” ideologically with the concept of Turkey’s “spiritual borders”, which extend well beyond the country’s borders and aim at the “protection” of “blood-related” communities/peoples.
This foreign policy is also expressed in practice through the strengthening of Turkey’s militarization through concrete measures: the reform of the Turkish army so that it can carry out more military operations abroad, the establishment of military bases in foreign countries, the strengthening its arms and defence industry and the restructuring of the external intelligence sector of MIT (National Intelligence Organization).
The anti-Western rhetoric used by Erdogan, but also the verbal criticism he himself comes sunder in various degrees from the West, is essentially the expression of an imperialist tug of war and the tendency of the Turkish bourgeoisie to assert a hegemonic role, a greater autonomy and a larger share in the geopolitical and economic “pie” in the region. This, after all, is what other US allies in the region are doing as well, such as Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt.
However, the NATO-EU-US bloc in no way clashes with the Erdogan government. On the contrary, it offers its support, given the importance Turkey has to this bloc and its objective of preventing its reorientation towards Russia. The fascist-type course of Erdogan’s government and the brutal crackdown of the opposition, the workers movement and the country’s Kurds, the invasion of Syria and Iraq, Turkey’s support to the “Islamic State”, the continued 42 years old occupation of Cyprus, the provocations against Greece, the blatant blackmail in connection with the refugees were not and are not, unfortunately, for the West reasons to get annoyed about.
The Turkish Cypriot community
At the same time, the situation in the Turkish Cypriot community is developing very worryingly. Turkey is following a deliberate and consistent policy from 1974 to this date. It is incorporating the occupied areas on many levels and in many ways. It is promoting policies that deepen the Turkish Cypriot community’s dependence on Ankara and annihilating it.
The Turkish army, together with the mechanisms of the Turkish Embassy in the occupied territories immediately after 1974, undertook this role, which they continue to play today too. At the same time, the economic integration of the occupied areas is being promoted through the financing of the construction and tourism sectors and beyond. I recall the undersea water pipeline which fully incorporates the occupied areas into Turkey in terms of water resources. The land involved in the onshore section of the pipeline in the occupied areas is considered Turkish property, and the underground and surface sources of the occupied territories have been passed on to the management of a private company that will take over the distribution of the water, at the end of the procedures. The illegal airport was handed over to a Turkish company, while by 2018 the complete privatization of ports and electricity is being planned, on the model of the privatization of water. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of the so-called universities belong to Turkish companies through partnerships with Turkish Cypriots, while reports reveal that applications for fifteen Turkish universities to open branches in the occupied areas are pending. To all this, we should also add the attempt to conclude an agreement to establish a “coordination office” of Turkey’s Ministry of Youth and Sport, but also the relentless increase in interventions and funds from Turkey on issues related to supporting the public presence of religion.
It is true that the Turkish Cypriot community is putting up resistance against the partitionist framework that Turkey is trying to impose. However, no one can speak with any certainty as to how long can a small community resist a great power, as to how long it can exist without a peculiar Turkish Cypriot nationalism prevailing, that is distancing itself from both from Turkey and the Greek Cypriot community. If, indeed, we disappoint it again by changing the framework of the solution being sought, as certain circles and forces are indeed proposing, we would weaken it completely.
I don’t say all this to insinuate that we should accept any solution and, even more so, a bad solution. On the contrary, we are the first ones that will reject any bad proposal. We are, however, obliged to take everything into account when deciding on the substantive or procedural issues concerning the Cyprus problem.
Developments since the Mont Peleran talks
Two weeks ago we discussed for a whole day the Cyprus problem in a special session of the House of Representatives. I do not intend today to reiterate AKEL’s positions on the principles of the solution of the Cyprus problem. Neither will I respond to the various arguments put forth by other political parties. However, I feel it my duty to comment on developments in Mont Peleran and on the situation as it now stands. I shall give our views on what we consider our next steps should be.
The developments in Mont Peleran saddened, but do not deviate us from the strategic objective of the solution. They don’t discourage us. Quite the reverse, they make us determined and push us to redouble our efforts to overcome obstacles and difficulties.
From the outset, we have argued that we should not get bogged down in blame games and that our priority should be to create the continuation of substantive negotiations. The two leaders need to act as such, to rise to the occasion and search for common methods to breach the temporary impasse. We called on the two leaders to refrain from making any comments and stating positions that complicate the resumption of the negotiations.
At the same time we tried to contribute to the continuation of the talks. To this end we had a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, as we also sought in our meetings with the President of the Greek Republic, the United Nations Secretary-General Special Advisor on Cyprus Mr. Edie and with Turkish Cypriot political parties.
At this point I want to clear things up about our meeting with the Greek Prime Minister. We as AKEL had requested the meeting. We didn’t announce it in public, because we are interested in the substance and not with gaining any points for our initiative. Statements that were made in an attempt to explain the objective of the visit are insulting to us, but mainly for the Greek Prime Minister. Did you think that the Greek Prime Minister waited for AKEL to point out to him what position he should take? Do you suppose AKEL acted as a Trojan horse to convey criminal plans against Cyprus? Our 90-year old history demonstrates otherwise. We repeat: We are a patriotic Party interested in the survival of the Cypriot people, as a whole, in the land of its birth. We are not concerned about the accusations launched against us, either by political parties or any persons, or by journalists who question our patriotism. We will remain committed to the goal of a just, functional and viable solution. All our actions are aimed at how we will get closer to the goal of liberation and reunification.
The two leaders decided last Thursday that they will resume the negotiations on the basis of a specific procedure. The decision was taken just by Mr. Anastasiades as regards the Greek Cypriot side. The agreement encompasses perspectives, but also justified concerns. From the moment the President has decided to go ahead, as AKEL will support the effort.
We address an appeal to Mr. Anastasiades to endeavor to maximize the prospects; to work to minimize the dangers; to negotiate based on principles and collectively and to be in permanent consultation with the Greek Government on the issues related to security.
We call on both leaders and on the political parties, on both sides, to think of the future generations and not about the next election; to create the conditions for maximum unity; to pay more attention to issues of substance, rather than the procedure and to try to make a constructive contribution to the efforts for a solution based on principles. This is what AKEL will do. We will act and work as true Cypriots because we want to see our common country finally reunified.
The State Budget
I now come to the annual debate on the Budget, which gives each political force the opportunity to submit its views.
For the Government and the Democratic Rally party it will be another opportunity for them to advertise their supposed “success story”, even if this serves just the privileged few and the wealthy.
For AKEL it offers the opportunity to talk about the common people and society, about the working people who are struggling to make ends meet with reduced wages and increased debts and to speak, for example, about young couples who find it very difficult to acquire their own housing.
We shall talk about those of our compatriots who are in need of more help, social support and state aid which they don’t get.
We shall speak about the pensioners, who are seeking a dignified pension, care and treatment.
We shall talk about the young people who are desperately looking for work and who eventually are forced to migrate and look elsewhere for their future and prospects.
Let’s start, then, from growth. We hear the government talking about the recovery of the Cyprus economy being consolidated and strengthened. The Ministry of Finance reiterated that we have one of the best economic performances in the European Union and that the economy is being upgraded by rating agencies, and so much more. At the same time, the daily social conditions are changing, but unfortunately for the worse. The everyday life in hospitals has become unbearable in recent years. Unemployment, particularly among young people, remains high. The welfare state is collapsing.
So what kind of growth is the government talking about?
Who benefits from it? What does society gain from improving economic indicators?
Growth and income inequality
With the implementation of austerity policies, by transferring the burden of the crisis on working people’s backs, with all-round comprehensive cuts in wages and benefits, particularly in the private sector, only one result is produced: income inequality.
According to the European Parliament, Cyprus is the country with the biggest increase in income inequality.
Irrefutable witness: the changes in the Income Gini coefficient.
It is one of the key metrics. In the period 2008 – 2011 the index has averaged 29.5. Today it has risen to 33.6.
For AKEL, the exit from the crisis doesn’t just mean our economy needs to take the path of growth again. It means improving the standard of living for the whole of society. It means creating jobs with rights; to ensure adequate income for workers. It means quality public health, education and care. It means supporting the vulnerable groups of the population.
Unfortunately, for the Government, the exit from the crisis means the rich getting richer and the poor poorer. It means the selling off of public wealth and property; the sellout of Cooperatives; the collapse of public hospitals and the deregulation of labour relations. These are the results of the government’s policies.
The Government says that banks are recovering and that new opportunities are being created for the economy and that a new course is being charted.
Do we have to recall that the banks were the ones that contributed to the financial ruin and imposition of the Memorandum?
Do we have to recall that the political decisions of March 2013 for the haircut on bank deposits shifted the burdens and dangers of the crisis from the banks on to the people’s backs?
Must we recall how much the people’s incomes have fallen?
Do we have to recall that their properties are at risk of being sold off because people cannot manage the debts created on the basis of the calculations and expectations they had made before the crisis broke out?
As far as this crisis, the crisis of private debt, is concerned, the Government has not produced any plan so far. But it has taken care to protect the banking sector, to generously hand it tools and speed up the procedures for the sell-out of properties. It has also taken care to undermine any effort undertaken by AKEL and others to protect the common people.
We have the highest percentage of private debt after Luxembourg. We have the highest percentage of non-performing loans and highest interest rates in the Eurozone. It is clear that these are not enough for a change in the Government and the Central Bank’s will. For them they are satisfied with allowing banks to record profits, even if it means selling off properties and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a privileged few; even if it means a society without a vision and a future.
Employment and unemployment
We hear the Minister of Labour announcing that there is a fall in unemployment, an increase in employment and that new jobs are being created. She does not mention that this is happening as a result of medieval working conditions which have been imposed and due to the massive exodus abroad of the labour force.
The continuous reduction of wages, work with curbed rights, deregulated working hours and the intensification of the exploitation of workers are phenomena that are prevalent today in the private sector.
Cyprus records the worst percentage rates in underemployed persons, namely those working in part time employment and receiving a meagre salary. For 15 consecutive quarters wages have been falling. The percentage of the population with households living with a very low work intensity index has doubled over the last five years.
The Government will say that all this leads to people working more. We of course don’t prefer unemployment than work. We demand, however, jobs with rights. We demand jobs with dignity. We demand a future for our youth.
There is another point to be made. In recent years, despite the decline in unemployment, the number of inactive people, that is people no longer looking for work has increased dramatically. Therefore so long as the government refuses to admit it, the reality is that in society there is dissatisfaction.
The discouragement of a significant section of society to participate in the country’s productive capacity and the refusal of a large section of people studying in universities abroad to return to work in Cyprus will have drastic social and economic impacts in the future. On the one hand it aggravates the already adverse demographic composition of the country, whilst on the other eroding the labour force and reducing its production capabilities.
The development of a new workforce with experiences that can support the production process is a strong challenge for the future. This should be the aim of governmental policies and not the opposite.
Moreover, the improvement of terms of employment and working conditions is for AKEL a component part of its existence. By extension, we should focus on the economic situation of households today. Unfortunately, we are called upon to fight for what should be self-evident.
Poverty
29% of our population is on the verge of poverty.
Eurostat figures released have noted that Cyprus is the last country in the charts of social protection expenditure.
The standard of living in the country has fallen so much that if today we measure poverty based on the economic data of 2008, the poverty rate would be more than double. This is the supposed “success story” of the Government ∙ the massive impoverishment of the people!
All walks of life are victims of these government policies, but, in particular, the elderly. Just ten days before the recent parliamentary election in May, the Anastasiades Government announced an increase from 6 to 20 euros for the elderly on low pensions, surpassing the limits of political audacity, after previously cutting their supplementary pension; after abolishing the Easter bonus imposing the EUR 750 threshold for someone to be entitled to take the minimum; after having abolished pensioner’s free transportation and free health care; after cutting the small pension of thousands of pensioners, counting up to 1 euro in interest. After all these measures were taken the government gave as charity to the elderly on low pensions a few crumbs, just a few days before the election.
Economic indicators
The improvement in economic indicators and a “good fiscal performance” is not enough, that is a policy aiming at achieving short-term results, whilst at the same time perpetuating structural and income inequality. It is not enough to say that Cyprus’ lenders heave lavish praise. The people must be the ones to do so.
How can the people say “well done” when people are paying the cost of the crisis and can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel?
We support the improvement of economic performance and a tidy budget. At the same time we demand the implementation of policies to address poverty, inequality and social exclusion. We want a plan and a vision that offers solutions to economic and social problems in the long run.
“Exit” from the Memorandum and the EU
We hear and reflect on the solemn declarations of the Government about the country’s supposed exit from the Memorandum. A year ago, from this very podium, we said that the termination of the payment of installments by the European Stability Mechanism does not simultaneously mean the end of the supervision by the European and international institutions. Our position back then was ridiculed and we were accused of being “alarmists”.
Today, the Government and ruling Democratic Rally party are changing their line. I will repeat what ESM Managing Director Klaus Regling said:
“We will be in close contact with the government for a long time … The Treaty of the European Support Mechanism requires us to do that, to be in contact, given the money we pay out to Cyprus. […] We will monitor developments in the country, because we must be sure that we will take back in time the amounts we give. The first repayment of the capital is set for 2025 and the last payment due in 2031”.
President Anastasiades, DISY party leader Neophytou and Finance Minister Georgiadis pretend they never heard what Regling has stated.
AKEL has never had any illusions and excessive expectations about the European Union, and especially the Eurozone. We knew precisely the nature of the economic policies of the European Union. We will not tire of repeating that the way that the EU is operating puts the interests of powerful countries and multinational companies over and above the interests of the peoples.
AKEL’s position came under destructive and aphoristic criticism.
How do all those who rushed to mock us back then reply to us today, following Brussel’s last intervention?
Do they, even now, after the haircut on bank deposits, the imposition of Memoranda and the social strangulation of the European periphery continue to have confidence in the economic policies and institutions of the Monetary Union?
Will continue to portray to AKEL the European Union as a club of angels?
One can cite many examples of THE European Union’s nature and philosophy. More recently, we can cite the Banking union, the trade agreement with Canada and the attempt to conclude an agreement with the United States (TTIP).
With the Banking union, the European Union took control of the systemic banking institutions in all member countries, arguing that this will improve the ability to forecast, prevent and respond to future crises. This, however, is to the detriment of the real economy. It has deliberately created the conditions for the further consolidation and merger of banks, to the benefit of the large banking giants. This is what is happening today. Banks have lost their role as supportive mechanisms for growth and development. They aren’t interested in the impact their decisions have on the growth prospects of each country. They are interested only in strictly fulfilling the objectives set by the European Central Bank, that is greater profitability, more capital, tougher rules for society. With this philosophy there is no perspective whatsoever for their peoples.
The EU’s trade policy has corresponding characteristics. The new trade and partnership agreement between the European Union and Canada, and the intended agreement with the US aims at imposing the drastic curbing of working people’s rights. It aims at easing regulations in the areas of the environment and food safety. They are seeking the imposition of the liberalization – deregulation – privatization of the market in the health, education and water sector.
In their totality these policies are designed to provide more incentives for generating profits for the big multinational companies, ignoring the dangers for working people’s safety and quality of life. They disregard the economic impact on small family businesses that form the backbone of the Cyprus, but also European economy. These agreements serve the business and industrial elite, violating the people’s democratic will and that of their political representatives.
The Eurozone is today imposing a clear philosophy and line on the social economic policy of states. In our case, however, the Government and the Democratic Rally party are anything but concerned. This is because they are finding another ally to impose policies and measures that represent the very essence of their own philosophy.
What is essentially being implemented is their own policies. The Government and DISY party used to say that they were being forced to proceed to privatizations because, supposedly, Christofias agreed. They said that the Memorandum is the curse that they inherited. Today they now openly state otherwise. They admit that privatization is for them is an ideological issue. They say that even if our so-called European “partners” hadn’t imposed the Memorandum on Cyprus, they would implement it. They are proud that the Memorandum represents their own ideological manifesto.
They boast about new development projects, which seem to suit the interests of the privileged few. They know that they are supporting and reinforcing specific social classes. They are not interested in the welfare of Cypriot society, but their priority is to enhance the profitability prospects of big capital.
Four years now the Government is pledging to implement the National Health Scheme, but with diligence it postponed it indefinitely.
They sell out Cooperatives which have been built with great effort and sacrifice by thousands of ordinary people, workers and peasants.
They see households not being able to meet their loans, but welcome the reduction of wages in the economy.
They have as their vision the competitiveness of the economy, low labour costs, reduced wages and a deregulated labour market without rights.
They claim an orderly state, but provide with the greatest of ease generous tax reliefs which, first and foremost, help those who are privileged. They want balanced public finances, but through the public debt, they have turned us into hostages of international lenders.
These contradictions mark the philosophy of their policy; contradictions not at all accidental, but that seek to serve the interests of the privileged and select few; contradictions that aim to restrict the intervention and role of the State, but also to increase exploitation. They are aiming to reduce taxes at the expense of social welfare; reduce wages, even if that affects the whole economy.
They faithfully implement neo-liberalism, ideas full of injustices and inequalities, characterized by an anti-growth and deeply reactionary dogma.
AKEL’s philosophy and priorities
The philosophy and priorities of AKEL are different.
They aren’t dogmatic, nor unrealistic.
AKEL does not deny the need for the tidying up of finances.
It does not deny the need to reorganize the state.
Nor does AKEL deny that the proposed Budget reflects the clearly improved situation of the Cyprus economy, nor do we deny that in the Budget there is no evidence of a more balanced fiscal consolidation, without the brutality that characterized the previous three years.
To put it simply, AKEL considers that the Budget does not meet the needs of Cypriot society. It continues to deepen social inequalities, aggravating the position of the middle strata and working people. It does not remove from the country the danger of a complete breakdown of social cohesion with all that this implies for an increase in unemployment, the perpetuation of precarious employment and the damage to our great asset, namely our extremely highly educated workforce. Most importantly the Budget contains neither a productive model, different from that one which led the Cyprus economy to collapse and the social majority to a dead-end course of poverty and insecurity.
The government claims that the sustainability of growth that it is promising depends on boosting the economy’s competitiveness.
However can there be an increase in the economy’s competitiveness, if it is not connected to taking full advantage of our unique comparative advantage, namely our asset in human and scientific potential?
How viable can our comparative advantage remain when most of it is underemployed and the remaining part is migrating abroad?
How will this human and scientific potential be fully harnessed and used when there aren’t provisions for investments in new technologies, research and innovation?
When more efforts aren’t being made to develop sectors of the economy whose competitiveness should be based on the utilization of the expertise, technological knowhow of people and the promotion of technologies and cutting-edge infrastructures?
When, in other words, preconditions and opportunities aren’t being created for the development of a healthy economy with extrovert characteristics that will meet the international demand for intelligent services and products?
The government is even claiming that it will combat unemployment and raise employment by attracting investments through the privatization of the port of Limassol, the construction of marinas in Ayia Napa and Paphos, the operation of a casino and the exploitation of hydrocarbons.
But even if the persistence on the illusions of the logic of privatization is overcome, we cannot understand what kind of growth this will be, with the exception of the hydrocarbons, by investing in dubious value added sectors.
What kind of jobs will be created in the harbor, marina and casino? Who will they target and how would they absorb qualified technicians and scientists who, at best, will be forced to accept meagre wages devaluing their studies and knowledge?
What kind of production models will they create and what prospects will they offer to an economy dependent on unexpected and, in any case, variable fragile international conditions?
Given the situation in the banking sector and the significant private debt ratio, the possibilities of financing major development projects by the private sector is limited. Therefore, Cyprus is in need of an enhanced development expenditure by the State, particularly after the cuts in expenditure over the last three years. But just increasing production is not enough.
It is imperative that income inequalities are addressed immediately by promoting policies to strengthen households and support SME’s. The policy of increasing income is not a policy sparking waste, it is in fact a policy generating growth and development.
Furthermore, active policies by the State are demanded to build up benefits and support for the unemployed. Mostly, however, decisions and actions are needed to build infrastructures and institutions to satisfy elementary social needs, fundamental in every society such as:
- The promotion of quality health – the implementation of the National Health Scheme.
- Ensuring housing for all – the bringing back of the comprehensive housing policy painstakingly implemented by the previous government and that the current government is abolishing today.
- The creation of basic Social policy infrastructures – with ambitious programs of social welfare, support for the disabled, childcare and tackling migration.
Of course, for all the above resources, both financial and human, are required. That is why the country needs to improve tax compliance, especially on the part of high-income groups. We need a fiscal policy that distributes more equitably the burdens and addresses the realities of the crisis today; policies for the taxation of wealth; policies that put an order in relation to tax obligations and enhance the State’s economic potential.
We also need transparency and fairness to be strengthened. Woe if we allow impunity and corruption to dominate.
But how can society believe all that we say about transparency when institutions are under daily attack?
When persons are appointed to senior state institutions just because they stood next to Mr. Anastasiades on his pre-election platforms? We are talking about persons who humiliated their posts in the worst way.
How can society believe all that is said about transparency when people, whom the President entrusted as “the very best of the excellent” are shown to be inferior and substandard?
When those who had delivered lessons to us to respect independent institutions – now that they control them – are clashing with everyone?
Today, more than ever, society demands the combating of the phenomena of interwoven interests and corruption, as well as the cleaning up and modernization of institutions.
However, as citizens expect that transparency and accountability should first begin from our own house, as AKEL we have promptly delivered to the Registrar of Political Parties the annual audited accounts of the C.C. of AKEL and we proceeded to make them public. We support the strict application of the Law on the Financing of Political Parties and especially the compliance with international accounting standards. In addition, within the context of transparency, we decided to discuss the financial statements of the Party in the presence of the mass media in our given Congresses.
We also demand transparency and modernization, however, in the functioning of the State.
As AKEL we have elaborated and submitted for public debate a significant number of proposals for the elimination of interwoven interests and corruption, and for the modernization of institutions, such as:
- Institutional regulation, restriction in the number of terms in various public posts/offices and interchangeability in key positions in the Public Service.
- Modernization of the legislative framework governing bids and purchases of armaments for the National Guard defence programs. The possibility of public control over all tenders awarded in the public and semi-public sector, regardless of the amount.
- Legislative regulation of economic activities of Non-Governmental Organizations, aimed at transparency in their financing.
- Publication of audited accounts of the Mass Media, print and electronic, with the simultaneous informing of the public about who their real owners are (beneficial owners), including subsidiaries and associates.
- Mandatory confiscation of the property of state officials and public servants, who are convicted of financial crimes and especially for tax fraud offenses, bribery and the squandering of public money.
- Legislative regulation of stricter penalties, so that the effect of any commission of offenses against the State to be dissuasive for offenses.
- Improving citizen’s accessibility to Authorities, particularly on issues of ensuring access to public documents, service and transparency in relation to decisions that affect them, through the organization of public hearings and accountability.
We also demand transparency and modernization from the business community in Cyprus as well.
We demand that it fully respects the institutions of the Republic of Cyprus; that it ends illegal abuses, respects the society it addresses, far from its methods of exploitation and deception; that it must continue to meet its obligations towards the State and society. These are the principles that should be the model of every enterprise.
At the same time, Cypriot enterprises must be models respecting labour rights. This would benefit not only working people, but also businesses themselves, to the benefit of the economy and society. Enterprises where workers must feel security and respect for their working environment improving their productivity, developing and coping more easily with current difficulties.
The government pretends that it has been vindicated in view of the “prophets of doom” insistence that austerity generates social inequalities and vicious circles of anti-growth. It disregards that the reduction of deficits which allows the balancing of the budget is achieved through primary surpluses that abolish resources from development and gains of the most vulnerable population groups.
Today the government boasts that it is abolishing the special contributions from the public and private sectors, abolishing taxes on immovable property and granting increments in the public sector without understanding that, even though they haven’t contributed to increasing social inequality, tax cuts alone cannot help towards increasing the competitiveness of enterprises and services.
In the new world of increased transparency that is dawning, with regards traditional types of growth and tax advantages it tends to completely lose its meaning.
The tax advantages, which in the past made certain countries competitive, cannot in the future form the basis of the new economy to which we should adapt to as soon as possible.
Another path exists; the path that the present government cannot or dares not take, either because it does not have a plan or because it does not have the will. They prefer to delude themselves by portraying the myth of a nonexistent “success story”, rather than presenting a coherent and comprehensive national plan with clear strategic objectives with targeted priorities and viable solutions.
This current government prefers to copy the ready-made recipes of serving those who are only interested in paying their loans, instead of taking initiatives to activate productive classes and political parties for a national consultation on the basis of alternative, local and truly sustainable growth strategies.
With passive behaviors, perverse tactics and shoving today’s challenges and problems under the carpet of the political complacency of petty-party expediency, no fiscal adjustment whatsoever will lead to the end of the logic of Memoranda which the government continues to follow.
With the privatization of profitable semi-governmental organizations and the selling off of public wealth and property new wealth isn’t created, nor distributed equitably or rendered more productive that the existing.
With projects that do not benefit the community as a whole, but simply reinforce certain privileged social groups radical reforms aren’t implemented or recovery conditions created with a strategic and time depth.
Without reforms being promoted in strategic fields, such as the General Health Scheme, the State can’t be modernized or the economy strengthened.
With the banking sector limited to the management of non-performing loans, the prospect of kick starting the real economy is being lost indefinitely both of businesses and young entrepreneurs.
Without significant new investments in strategically important areas, competitiveness will not be guaranteed based on cuts in wage, pensions and incomes.
With the continuous reduction of public spending any growth cannot be funded regardless of the improvement in public revenues.
With these characteristics, the 2017 budget to be voted on is merely a leap in the dark.
The country, however, cannot continue without any plan and vision, nor to be obediently guided by the dead-end Memoranda policies.
This is why AKEL will vote against the budget.
Based on all of the above, we call on all the creative forces of the country to rally their forces and give hope to society in order to create the preconditions for a new beginning of the economy.
Our principal goal in this struggle will be the reunification of our country after 42 years.
This is our hope and this is the goal we are struggling to realize.
